Undergrad Institution: Reputed institute in my country, not that much in physicsMajor(s):PhysicsGPA in Major:NAOverall GPA:7.8/10Length of Degree: 5Position in Class: near topType of Student: International male

GRE Scores : revisedQ:169V:155W:3.5P:Yet to take.

TOEFL: Yet to take

Research Experience: Couple of reading projects(Summer),1 project in foundations of QM that lead to a paper(Summer), 1 project in theoretical GR that will lead to paper(not before applications)[5 months], 1 project in conformal bootstrap with a well-known researcher in the field, that will lead to a paper(not before the applications)[5 months], MSc thesis was mostly reading, and also had some verifying calculations.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A reputed scholarship in my country, qualified in the top 1% list in 2 physics olympiad kind of exams in my country

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: taught underprivileged children as a part of a social service group

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:NA

Special Bonus Points: one of the referees is pretty well known in his field, 3 strong research LORs, had a decent grade in a string theory course.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:Applying for Ph.D. the incredibly competitive field HEP-thHaven't made a list yet.Super ambitious: Caltech, Yale, Cornell, Stony Brook, Brown (because one of the referees have connections in these places)somewhat ambitious: UT Austin, Texas A&M University, Rutgers, Waterloo.

Is it okay to ask professors before the application?Please suggest some safe universitites.Any other kind of suggestions is most welcome.